Thanks guys, I am sorry if it seemed like I was ragging on the community, that wasn't my intent. It was more about my experience. Information about this "smartdrive" actuator seems to be restricted to manuals for authorized Honda service centers. Thank you for the reality check. I do have considerable experience in forums like this, but that was in the heady early days of internet development. There were thousands of members in each section. That audience lived on computers with a keyboard in hand, this audience lives in a shop with a wrench in hand.
The problem isn't with the gearbox or engine, it is with the plastic thingy that sits on the horizontal bar. Honda calls the drive a "smartdrive. That thingy on the bar is called an actuator.
It is a real challenge to describe mechanics, especially for those without a mechanical vocabulary. Even having such, and attempting to understand a word description of an arcane mechanical system is a challenge - one only the most brave should attempt. Skip this next part if you don't want a headache.
The user rotates this component to increase or decrease power. It should not rotate more than about twenty degrees. The clutch cable inserts inside the handle about midway up and ends in the middle of the horizontal bar. The actuator clamps over the bar in three two halve parts. The inner two halves feature a window into the bar (the bar is open top and bottom). A pin is inserted through this opening and through the eyelet of the cable. The pin extents out on each end inserting into a s- like groves on the inside of both of these inside halves (If the actuator were an Oreo cookie, this is the cream layer). Rotating the actuator should force the pin to slide right, through the grove applying tension on the clutch cable and thus moving the transmission pulley and engaging the transmission belt. Clear as mud?
I don't expect people will want to watch a video - a bit annoying with its didactice yet cavalier descriptions, but the best way to see this is through this
video. If you want, turn off the sound and drag on the progress bar until you see actuator disassembly and assembly sections (disassembly/assembly required to replace the clutch cable).